Adaptable Guitar Pick
About this project
The project started at the second TOM:Vanderbilt makeathon, in 2019. Linden Reeder, who was born with radial club hand in his right hand, wished to play a guitar but had no reasonable way to grip his pick. The first iteration was made at this makeathon, and Linden used it for a year and learned to play. He realized during this time that the sound quality was not desirable, and the two rings on the original design forced him to hold the pick too firmly, messing with control and sound quality. At the third annual TOM:Vanderbilt pretom, we came up with a thicker, more ergonomic design. Original prototypes were made from play-doh by Linden and 3D printed by Gavin Yun and Sam Lazarus. Then multiple prototypes were created at the makeathon itself, some from insta-morph plastic, the rest 3D printed. The 3D printed iterations required additional assembly. The final version was created on the last day of the makeathon.
The final product is a 3D printed casing ergonomically created to allow for long term, easy gripping of a pick. The holder has a concavity on each side to aid in grip and comfort. There are two 1/8th inch rubber linings inside the casing that holds the pick, and 2 m3 screws that hold the pick in place.
The challenge
Linden has has radial dysplasia, which makes his right hand difficult to control and makes playing on the guitar particularly uncomfortable. He ha come back to TOM:Vanderbilt for a second year to improve a guitar pick holder a team made last academic year, allowing him to modulate pressure on the pick
Who it helps
Linden is coming all the way from Hawaii! This is his second time at TOM:Vanderbilt, and loves to play guitar.
Project details
- Stage: Prototype
- Built by the Vanderbilt University community, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
- Team: Linden
- 13 downloads
The build files for Adaptable Guitar Pick are free to download from this page - open source, shared by TOM: Tikkun Olam Makers.
Related projects
- Guitar Pick Large Grip Holder
- Re-play: wrist-attached guitar pick
- Guitar Pick End Unit - TOM Arm Prosthesis
- Hugh - Adaptable Computer Mouse
- Adaptable Winter Coat
- prosthesis end unit for guitar playing
Browse all TOM projects · Search projects · TOM communities · Makeathons and events